Tripping
by Faux Pax
Summary: Karma sequel.What do you get when you cross my best friend's ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, a genetics major who can't do math,mutant-hating idiotic terrorist, the entire second generation of Avengers, an omega level mutant and hallucinogens? Not a party.


Disclaimer: I don't own it. Astrid belongs to LuvaGoodMrE and I borrowed the rest of the Avenger Kids from the Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow move. Don't worry you don't have to have seen it. This is a sequel to my other one shot "Karma" I suggest you read it first, but if not enjoy anyway.

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><p>Tripping<p>

So what do you get when you cross my best friend's ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, a Star Wars obsessed genetics major who can't do math, a group of mutant-hating idiotic terrorist, the entire second generation of Avengers, a big mouthed demigoddess, me, an omega level mutant,and an ass load of hallucinogenic drugs? Contrary to what you might be thinking, NOT a party.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The day in question started just like any other of the worst days of my life: completely normal. I was done with my first class of the day and my advanced engineering class had unexpectedly canceled. Because I was already on the other side of campus I figured it wouldn't hurt to call my best—civilian—friend and see if he needed help studying for his next Calculus test.

"So did you hear?" Tobi asked as he got into the car.

"Hear what?" It was a big campus and there was always a lot going on. He could have been talking about any of a million things but I don't remember hearing anything that seemed like it would get it him this excited.

"I'll take that as a no then."

"Obviously." I deadpanned.

Dude you have been spending way too much time with Astrid," he muttered. Why is it that everyone seemed to assume that all my worst traits were a product of her molding?

"So people have been telling me. Since I was like four. Now, what is it that I didn't hear?"

Oh right. I just heard that P.O.W.E.R.S is having a special guest speaker tonight."

"Un-hun." I don't know why he thought I would be interested. I had been sure to distance myself form mutant politics as much as possible since coming to collage. Don't get me wrong, I would NEVER go as far as to be a mutant hater or ignore someone being a douche to someone else just because of their genome but I drew the line at going to mutant and mutant support meetings. Sorry, but that's just asking for trouble given how desperate I was to not be dragged into the hero scene.

I get it. You don't understand and that's oaky. When people hear the truth about me all that can think about is how my dad is IRONMAN—an Avenger, and one of the few superheroes that have nothing truly special about them. All they see is that fact that, if I asked enough times or prove myself somehow, I could one day find myself in a suit of my own.

That's the only side of being a superhero that the public acknowledges. They completely ignore the fact that that life always ends quickly and bloody for everyone, not just the heroes.

You see the real reason I don't want to be a hero isn't because I don't want to be like my dad. I do in almost every way. The real reason is because I see what it does to those around you.

I remember this one time Dad got hit with some magic-resistant poison while on a mission. Everyone did what they could but not even Loki's magic could help. I remember sitting with my mother in the lobby of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical wing while we waited to hear the news. I was terrified in that all-consuming way only children could be. A little voice kept repeating the same words over and over again in a whisper that was more horrible than a shout, '_You're going to lose him. ..You'll never see your daddy again…'_

My mom held me close but now that I'm older I don't think it was me she was trying to comfort. At least not entirely. With every scream we heard from behind the door she shook more and more and I knew that same serpentine voice was whispering in her ear too.

I wrapped my arms around her neck and tried to will my little arms to be strong enough to keep her from falling apart. I had to be the one being strong for her, rather than my dad, because his job as a hero didn't let him.

I was three.

"—fucking your mom and Astrid at the same time."

"What?" I asked before catching on to Toby's attempt to get my attention, "You couldn't keep up with either of them, let alone both."

"Just trying to make sure you were with me," he said.

"Of course I was."

"Then what did I say?" I could hear the enjoyment at catching my lie in his voice and I wasn't sure if I wanted to deck him or point out that I apparently wasn't the only one Astrid had been a bad influence on.

"Damn it Toby, you're worse than a woman," I yelled, but I think he could hear the laugh behind the harsh tone because he just crossed his arms and smirked.

"That's sexist and rude. Now answer the question."

"P.O.W.E.R.S's special guest," I muttered.

"Damn. That was like five minutes ago! You must have been a million miles away!"

"I was," I said, keeping my eyes centered on the road. Toby wouldn't get it. His life was so simple, I mean sure he had his own problems but he wouldn't understand. No one would.

All the people who knew enough about what it was like to live in that kind of a shadow—to understand what I was trying to do—thought I was nuts. Every one of them couldn't wait to for their chance to prove themselves and they spent years making sure that they were ready when it came.

Francis wasn't even old enough to drive but he could drive a thumbtack in two at a hundred yards with his bow and was almost a good with hand to hand and acrobatics as any S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

Torunn was the princess of a warrior culture so she knew how to fight. Oh, and the super strength and thunder powers never hurt.

James had a lot of potential and a burning desire to live up to his father's image but he was impetuous and easily frustrated which didn't help him any.

And then there was Severus. I knew him well enough to know that he had no interest in being a hero; the lives of the innocent mean little to him. Don't get me wrong, he's not going to go on a killing spree or anything but if it came between saving a bus load of kids or someone he cares about he wouldn't even blink and would have no regrets about what he chose. The only reason he spent all his spare time acting as babysitter to the rugrats is the simple fact that he's not stupid. He knows that soon or a latter they will go out into the field with or without their parents' permission and someone will have to be there to save their asses.

But me? Call me a coward if you want or say I'm finding half-assed justifications to make myself feel better. But I have enough faith in them to know that I'm not needed. I don't want to be like that—devoting my live to something that will only end it early in a bloody mess.

"That's a dangerous place to be while driving, man," he said, bring me back to reality once again.

"So who's the gust?" It was best to change the subject. I didn't want him to try and dig any deeper on the subject. He would be smart enough to know I was hiding something and his innocent curiosity wouldn't let it go. Ever.

"Franklin Richards."

I slammed on the breaks so fast Tobi had to use his arms to block his head from smashing into the dashboard, despite wearing his seatbelt.

"Son of a bitch! What was that about?"

"Red light." I said pointing ahead just as the light turned the offending color.

"Bull shit, Potts. I hope you have some damn good insurance on this thing, 'cuse one of these days you're going to learn what it feels like to fly—right out the windshield—with the way you drive."

I just gave an innocent little shrug. I actually wasn't all that bad at driving…at least my Ducati. Astrid's VW just didn't handle the same.

"Well luckily you won't have to put up with my driving any more. We're here."

We entered through the garage and into the kitchen were Astrid was busy making herself a sandwich. As she bit into the bread we locked eyes and I guess she could see what was going on in my head because she slowly swallowed and put the sandwich down.

"Tobias?" She asked sweetly, never taking her eyes off me. "Could you go into the living room for a moment? I sense Howard and I need to talk."

Toby could tell something was going on—it wouldn't be the first time we did the whole silent conversation thing around him—but he knew better than to interfere.

"Er…sure." He muttered, scratching the back of his head kind of awkwardly.

I waited until I was sure he was out of earshot before turning on Astrid. She knew what was coming but she wouldn't allow any emotion to slip through that concrete mask of hers; she just leaned against the sink as cool as you please with her hands and feet crossed, waiting for me to unload on her.

"You knew…" I spat, too frustrated to form a more detailed accusation.

"Knew what?" Although her words were teasing and flippant her voice told me she got no pleasure out of her game today. I wasn't sure if that calmed me some or just made me madder.

"Don't play that game with me!" I shouted before taking a deep breath. There was no way Toby didn't hear that and I didn't want him asking a whole bunch of unanswerable questions latter.

I lowered my voice to little more than a whisper before continuing. "You don't let yourself be in the dark about anything around you, and even if Frankie's visit did somehow slip under your radar Sev would have damn sure known and said something to you. So why didn't you tell me?"

"I did tell you." Although her voice was nonchalant, I could see the barest hint of guilt in her eyes. It was so small that almost anyone else would have missed it, but it was there and with that my anger dissipated—not completely, but enough that I could actually look her in the eye without wanting to strangle her.

"Was I asleep or completely focused on something else at the time?" Either option would mean the same thing: I would have given some form of acknowledgement but wouldn't have absorbed a word she said and we both knew it.

She sighed and looked at the floor for split second. It was the closest to shame she would ever let herself get.

It was my turn to give an exasperated sigh. "Why do you do this to me, Astrid? Why do you have ruin the one chance to get the one thing I have ever asked for?"

"Because Howard, the only thing you ask for is the one thing fate will not grant and the sooner you realize that, the less painful the lesson will be for you."

"Astrid—" I let myself trail off. There was no more pretending that she just didn't get it; I knew better. She understood that I was terrified that it would be just like when I was little and wound up having my "friends" betray me just because of who my dad was; she just thought she knew better than I did. Maybe she did, but that didn't make her always going behind my back any easier to swallow.

I didn't think Toby was like that, but if I was wrong—and I had been before—than I didn't want to know.

"Tobias has a good heart," she said softly as she put her arm across my shoulders," he cans handle the truth."

I let the silence stand for a few seconds before I opened my mouth to reply. It took me a fraction of a second to realize that it wasn't actually me that had screamed bloody murder.

It was Toby.

Astrid and I both ran into the living room tensed and ready for a fight thinking that maybe some psychos had somehow managed to get in uninvited past Astrid's spells and my alarm system. I was half right although wither Sev and the rest were psychos or uninvited, I really couldn't say.

"What's his problem?" James asked, staring a Toby's wide-eyed face.

I gave Astrid a pointed look; she could have at least said something about them being here. She gave a small smile and a shrug to tell me that she meant to but didn't have an opportunity in the kitchen. Great. There was no way to keep Toby in the dark with the whole crew here.

t took a moment to get what had sent Toby spazzing so hard. I groaned and barely fought the urge to face palm as Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Sev?" she asked slowly, dangerously. Her little brother looked up from where he sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV with a game controller nestled in his lap.

He paused the game and turned to his sister while everyone else turned to look at him.

"Your glamor fell again."

He looked down at his blue hands and gave a little laugh. "Opps."

I wanted to smack him. Hard. And I think Astrid felt the same way. Severus was always dropping his glamor at random times which wouldn't be all that bad—everyone he usually hung out knew the whole story about his heritage—but half the time when his glamor fell, so didn't whatever controlled his temperature. This meant that if someone touched him when he was blue, even accidentally, there was a fifty/fifty chance that they would get the world's worst case of frostbite.

He always claimed going blue was an accident—that somehow whatever instinctual magic that kept Astrid and Loki looking normal was a little different for him. His theory was that there magic was focused inward, which was why they were so much better at things like shape-shifting and making copies of themselves. But his magic was supposedly more focused outward giving him better control when it came to reading minds and perceiving other magic related stuff.

Not even Loki could tell if he was right or just blowing smoke as some kind of prolonged elaborate prank. Personally I'd go with the latter, but with Sev you never know.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We heard Franklin was coming and Sev wanted to see him so we came too. Besides, we missed you now that you're too busy with college and you never let us come over." Pym said, as tactless as ever. I really thought about swatting him like a fly but knew I could never get away with it. Despite being thirteen, he looked like he was about eight and abuse of a young child (or someone who just looks like a little kid) with girls in the room doesn't fly. Even when one of the girls is Astrid.

"Pym," Azari said, looking at the younger boy, "remember what we talked about before about how there were some things Howie didn't want his other friends to know?"

Toby gave me a confused and betrayed look that made me want to Gibbs smack Azari. I would have to if there was a chance I wouldn't get electrocuted in the process.

"Azari, I do not believe you have helped the situation." Torunn said.

"You think?" I couldn't help it; the sarcastic words came out before I really thought about them, not that I would have stopped them if I had.

"What are they talking about?" Toby asked and I could hear the fear and betrayal in his voice. That was just what I needed, to feel like shit on top of everything else.

"Well…" I trailed off. How was I supposed to explain that I had lied to him for the last two years without making myself sound like a total douche? It wasn't like I actively set out to lie to him…I just never got around to telling him the truth.

There was a knock at the door and judging by the weary look Astrid and Sev shared, I could tell it wouldn't be good.

"I'll get it," Astrid said, not even giving me a chance to run.

I really should have known this would happen. Just when I was sure things couldn't possibly get any worse the world had to prove me wrong.

"Hey guys, is this a bad time?" Franklin asked, following Astrid into the living room.

"The worst," I hissed as Toby started looking back in forth between Franklin and me.

"Oaky," he said slowly, "Howie, now I think you really need to tell me what's going on."

Franklin looked to Astrid for an explanation.

"It would seem we're in the midst of an awkward revelation moment." She mock whispered.

"I could come back later, if that would help." Franklin suggested.

"The damage is done Richards. Sit down." I shouldn't have been so harsh with him, he was actually one of the only people here that was trying not to compound the situation—not that that did much good now.

Sev waved at his friend and motioned for him to sit down on the floor beside him.

"Howie's coming out of the Avenger closet," I could literally hear the smirk in Francis's voice as he blew my cover wide open. I guess in a way I should thank him, his big mouth just did half my job for me. Not that it was the easy half, of course.

"Avenger?"

I sat down on the padded arm of the couch and looked out the window, preparing myself to lose the one friend I had outside of the freaks in the room. The one friend that I chose rather than fate. Don't get me wrong, I love the rest of the Avenger kids but sometimes it's nice to have friends that aren't family.

"I registered under my mother's maiden name so that everyone wouldn't know that my father is an Avenger." I didn't look at him. I couldn't. I couldn't watch as he started to hate me.

It didn't take long for all the puzzle pieces to click into place.

"Stark?" he whispered and I nodded.

"I get why you didn't tell everybody, but why didn't you tell me?" He was trying to be level headed about this and that meant more to me than he would ever know.

"It just didn't come up." I prayed he understood what I was trying to say under that lame ass excuse. At first he was one of the 'everybody else' and after we become friends I couldn't bring myself to say it. I mean it's not something you can go 'oh by the way…'

"So you all are Avenger kids?" He asked, about three fourths out of curiosity and the rest out of a desire to change the subject. In that moment I knew we would be oaky. Eventually.

"Pretty much," Sev said taking over with the introductions and I was glad. I don't think my nerves could have taken it.

You know Astrid. I'm her little brother Severus. Yes like out of Harry Potter," he said cutting Toby off before he could even make the comment, "We have the same power set and it would take all day to explain in detail. Suffice it to say we're conjurors. If we want it, we make it end of story." I noticed he brushed over who his parents are. That was probably best. I don't think Toby would have been able to look at Astrid the same after knowing that her dad was once a big bad.

"Astrid's the oldest then there's Franklin," he said motioning to the mutant in question. Franklin just gave a little wave and Sev continued, "And then there's Howie and me."

"Francis, your turn," Sev said, to the Malfoy blond little bastard in the corner, "name, age, parents, and power set."

Francis Barton, sixteen, son of Hawkeye and Mockingbird. No superpowers just skill." Leave it to Francis to keep it short and surly.

"Are those two together this week?" Franklin asked, causing most of the others to snicker. It was a bit of an ongoing joke between the Avengers; honestly, they were worse than high school kids with the on again off again thing. Half the time I don't even think they know which one's which.

Francis narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. He probably knew Sev would kill him if he and Franklin got into it right now.

Sev's gaze turned to his golden haired cousin.

"Torunn Loka Thordóttir," she said proudly as Toby snickered.

"Wow. Your parents must have hated you." Toby muttered. Wrong move. Torunn had him against the wall with the tip of her huge sword pointed right at his jugular.

"You dare mock the princess of Asgard?" She rewarded and I found myself tempted to ask Toby if he needed to borrow a clean pair of pants.

"_A_ princess, cousin, not _the_." Astrid reminded her, "Besides, the mortals here do not have the mental capabilities to truly appreciate the beauty of names such as ours. We cannot fault them for a product of their heritage."

"Are you forgetting that you're half human too, Astrid?" Azari said.

"Can we get back on topic?" Sev asked loudly trying to stop a fight that could have easily broken out. For some reason, Astrid didn't have much patience's for the younger kids. Hell, she could barely stand Sev.

"Right. James, your turn," I said trying to help Sev's plain along.

"I'm James Rodgers, fifteen. My parents are Captain America and the Black Widow and power wise I take after my dad."

"I didn't know those two were together," Toby said in confusion. That was one of the hazards of having your identity being public like that; people can't help but know your business.

Don't get me wrong, Toby wasn't one of those Avenger groupies who followed the tabloids like they were scripture and thought they were there best friends just because they knew everything ever published about the heroes. But even those who didn't follow those things were bound to have at least heard of it.

"There not," James said pointedly.

"It's actually a funny story," I said, feeling the need to clarify, "So when Torunn was born Thor was so ecstatic, he wanted to celebrate with his bothers-in-arms in the typical Asgardian fashion, which as you can imagine, involves lots and lots of alcohol. What no one seemed to consider (or maybe they didn't know) was that the Asgardian stuff was about five or six times stronger than earth stuff. Apparently that was strong enough to get even Steve drunk off his ass, and well…everyone woke up in some weird places."

"Thank you for that." James deadpanned.

"You would think that they would notice themselves getting that drunk…" Toby muttered.

"I think most seem to suspect Loki had something to do with that, but no one's ever been able to prove anything. So unless he spontaneously decided to confess, we'll probably never know."

Toby looked at me a little funny and then stared at Astrid.

"Loki…who would be your dad right?"

Astrid looked pleasantly surprised. "You catch on quickly."

"Come on Azari, hurry up so I can have my turn." Pym said partially bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Did someone give him sugar today or something?" I asked.

Sev gave me a tired little look, "It wouldn't surprise me if my mother did, knowing I would have to watch him." That sounded like Darcy.

"As you already heard, I'm Azari. I'm fifteen and my parents are the Black Panther and Storm." I was kind of surprised he didn't mention the whole being a prince of a secret African nation. That could make the conversation a little awkward… well, more awkward.

"I'm Henry Pym jr, but everyone just calls me Pym. I'm thirteen and can make myself really, really small or really, really big," He said, thankfully deciding not to demonstrate. "Oh, and my dad is Giant Man and my mom is the Wasp."

Toby let this all soak in for a moment.

"So do you guys have cool superhero nicknames or anything?" I was impressed; he was taking this extremely well.

Astrid gave my side a little nudge with her elbow. _I told you he could handle it. _She sent the thought directly into my head, her voice dripping with the unique kind of satisfaction you could only get form saying those three words.

Maybe I'll have to listen to her a bit more about things like this.

* * *

><p>The auditorium was packed and if we hadn't been with Frankie, I don't think we would have gotten in at all. There had to be at least a thousand people packed into a room only designed for a little over six hundred and more were trying to squeeze in.<p>

The student leader of P.O.W.E.R. motioned to Franklin the moment she saw us backstage.

"Oh hey Natalie," I said kind of awkwardly, but I guess that was kind of expected given what happened the last time I saw her.

The first semester of freshman year was the only time I lived on campus. Despite already having more than a couple degrees earned through online courses from places like Harvard business and MIT, I wanted one I earned as a normal college student. I wanted the chance to be just a normal kid.

I could live through sharing a room that was about the size of my closet. I could live through having to leave most of my tech at home in the name of discretion. What I couldn't take was my oversexed roommate trying to get into Astrid's pants.

She actually went out with him for about a month (I'm sure she had other motives—she had to have) and it ended badly. We stopped by my room to pick up some stuff for a project and caught him doing the nasty with another girl in my dorm. Apparently Natalie had been going out with him for three weeks and didn't know she was the other woman.

Let's just say after that douchebag had much bigger problems than two pissed off girlfriends and a broken nose (courtesy of Natalie).

"Oh hey, Hank, was it?"

"Howard." I corrected and she gave a little laugh.

"Well, that's closer than I normally get. I'm shit with names. Listen, are you here with Franklin?" She asked looking down at her clipboard and I wondered if there was some kind of list or something.

"We're here for moral support," Sev said.

Natalie smiled at Franklin, "I didn't picture you as the entourage sort."

"We're not—" I started but she raised her hand.

"I know. He told me he was bringing some friends so I saved a few seats," she said studying the group, "although there's a few more here than you said. We might be one short on seats."

"I'll stay back here. Everyone one else has had more time to get excited. And besides I can listen without a visual."

"But dad says everything is better with a visual." Sev muttered sending a shutter up my spine. His parents and visuals are two things that should never be mentioned in the same sentence, trust me.

Natalie began to herd everyone to the front row, but stopped for a second.  
>"Cool shirt," she said pointing to Toby's <em>"<em>I've gone to the dork side" shirt.

Toby wasn't used to hot girls, especially ones talking to him. He just stood there thunderstruck for a moment blinking and I was praying he didn't embarrass himself. Eventually he recovered and followed the rest out into the crowd.

"I don't get it. He finds out his best friend is from a family of superheroes and he takes it in stride. A pretty girl compliments him on his shirt and suddenly he's mush." I muttered to Franklin who just shrugged.

"Why are you doing this again?" I muttered. He didn't seem bothered by crowd in the least but he didn't' seem energized by them either.

"My mom thought it would be a good idea for me to get out into the community."

"Un-hun," I said, not convinced. That very well could be true but it wasn't the entire truth. "And you decided to come two thousand miles to be a part of MY community because?"

He squirmed and I could tell I had hit a nerve.

"Astrid put you up to this didn't she?"

He sighed, "She asked me to talk to you."

"Do I even have to ask about what?" I tried to keep the exasperation out of my voice but I was failing miserably. This was just another kick at a horse that was long dead and rotting.

"She's worried,"

I snorted. "She doesn't get worried."

"Not normally, no," he conceded.

"As is being such a hypocrite over this. She's the one who always says that she wouldn't be caught dead playing the hero and now she's trying to push me onto the battle field." I had thought he would understand. Or at least not judge.

Franklin stared at me for a moment like I was the one who didn't understand. "She doesn't want you to be the hero; she wants you to be ready."

"Franklin—"

"My mom always says that they chose this life but me and Val," that's his little sister, by the way, "we didn't. That doesn't stop Doom from coming after us. Actually it makes us even more of a target," he said peeking out from behind the curtain.

"That's exactly why I don't want any of this."

His head snapped towards me, his blue eyes narrowed. "You already have it. The minute your dad put on that suit he condemned you to being a target. And he won't always be there to protect you. Some day you are going to be stuck somewhere far from anyone who can save you."

"What would you have me do?" I whispered, wanting this conversation to be over.

"Build a suit. Keep it close but never wear it if that's what you want. Just be ready."

I knew he was right but that didn't' make things any easier. "Even doing that would be too much. You know as well as I do that if I so much as put a toe in those waters, the undertow will pull me so deep into that world that I will never get out."

"Damn it Howie! You are already in it and chances are that you will die in it." he said, pulling open the curtain. "Just make sure it's latter rather than sooner." He said over his shoulder as he greeted the crowd.

I hate it when they had a point.

The really sad thing about bad guys is that nine times out of ten, there idiots. I mean sure the ones that aren't tend to be super smart but still, you'd think they have at least some measure of common sense.

Not really, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself again.

I watched Frankie stand up on stage and talk a little about mutant rights and all that jazz before it became time for the Q&A. Many of the questions were rather stupid ones—the ones his uncle Johnny loved—but he took them with a grain of salt and answered them.

After a few minutes I was really beginning to wonder if the entire audience was really made of teenaged girls before a rather buff guy approached the mic. He couldn't have been any older than me, and I could tell he wasn't too bright but there was something about him that sent warning bells blaring in my ears.

We really should have seen it coming, after all this kind of thing was supposed to be the Avenger's specialty but for the most part we were just kids and weren't expecting it. Not here. Not now.

Frankie's eyes rolled back and he hit the floor with a thump that seemed so much louder than it was. A pink tipped dart was sticking out of his neck. A tranquilizer. Well, it was better than being dead. The idiots must have figured they would get the real threat out of the way first, but they had no idea.

At the same time Frankie fell the rapid fire of two sub-machine guns rained plaster down on the crowd. People screamed and ran for the doors. They had been blocked, of course.

"Now if everyone would be so kind as to sit back down, there would be no need for anyone to get hurt." Another shot made sure his orders were followed.

I saw the kids in the front row tense up, ready to spring into action and I could practically see the words "avengers assemble" resting on the edge of James's lips. Sev gave them a look telling them to cool it. I knew what he was thinking: they didn't know enough about this bozo yet. He wanted the asshole to tip his hand, show us how many people were with him and what they wanted before a fight broke out.

I stayed behind the curtain, not out of some form of cowardice, but for the strategic advantage. If there was someone they didn't know was there than that just meant they didn't know to watch what I was doing.

"We are the Friends of Humanity," oh god. And here I thought that group was a bit smarter than this, "and we are all going to stay just where we are until our demands are met."

"And what would those be?" Astrid asked conversationally as she sat on the edge of the stage.

Everyone who didn't know her looked at her like she was crazy. And maybe she was—beautiful, mercurial, mad—but she was also smart. As much as she would like to pretend to be as removed from this hero business as I wished to be, she was a damned as I was. She may not be able to stand the rugrats but she would never let harm come to them if she could stop it. And if she couldn't…well then not even god could help those who crossed her.

"Let me guess," she continued probably reading the thoughts right out of the guy's head, "you are going to hold us hostage and demand that they release your leader, Graydon Creed, from the maximum security prison his ass is currently wasting away in. Am I right?"

The guy blanched and Astrid smelled blood.

"I bet you're going to do the whole kill a hostage an hour thing just to prove you're the big tough guy you try to pretend you are.

"But there's where you made your first mistake. Apparently you suck at math. There are approximately one thousand people in this auditorium. One thousand people divided by twenty four hours in a day means you have enough people here to last you forty one days and sixteen hours. So unless you plain to release some of us than you're going to be here awhile.

"You did pretty well so far with your entrance; you even had a couple dozen of your cronies mix in with the crowd so that you had back up and a plain in place in case they brought in S.W.A.T." As she said that I could see the hidden members glowing red in the crowed. She was showing us just who to go after when the time was right.

"You're second mistake however is your biggest. Did you really think that in a group of one thousand people the only superior being would be the one who identified themselves as such?"

Astrid's diversion would have worked if fate hadn't thrown another one in our way.

I was the first to notice Franklin shaking. If there was ever such thing as a good time to blow my cover now would be it.

Whatever they shoot him up with had to be what's doing it. I pulled the dart out and looked to see if there was any sort of identification or anything. Etched on the side was a single word Millux.

"Oh shit!" I said, willing Astrid to read my mind.

Millux was a tranquilizer used in big game hunting and the only reason I knew this was because there had been a big stink in the news a few months ago. Apparently while it prevented the animals form moving, it was also a powerful hallucinogenic. Some of the smaller animals it was used on had literally been frightened to death by whatever crazy shit their brains had cooked up.

Astrid turned back to the idiot.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" she roared. Any other time I would have enjoyed seeing Astrid in full out righteous fury mode, especially when it's directed at someone she had no qualms about doing serious damage to, but I couldn't afford to look for more than a split second. There were more important things to do like try and remember what little bit of first aid for seizures I knew.

The goon's eyes widened and I could see that he was terrified. He could sense he had pissed off the force of nature that was Astrid. He pointed the gun at her in warning, like a hunter cornered by a jungle cat.

She snorted and puffed over to him. Despite the slight height difference, Astrid seemed so much bigger than the idiot as she put her unblinking face inches from his and grabbed his gun. The metal super cooled and shattered.

The man screamed and gripped his hand as the cold metal burned his hand and dropped to his knees, holding his blackened useless hand. At the sound his accomplices stood up and drew their weapons but Astrid didn't even look at them.

"You…you…you're one of them!" The man spat, managing to sound disgusted through his pain.

"Hardly. I'm a goddess." She whispered before looking over her shoulders at the bad guys scattered in the crowd.

Something in the room had changed, and if I was being perfectly honest it had been changing since right after Franklin got hit but it had been subtle at first. Once the drugs had a chance to really kick in, however, everything changed.

Franklin gave a particularly violent convolution and suddenly the entire assembly was transported out of Kansas.

We were in a stretch of dense, tropical, jungle. Even with Franklin being shot up with enough drugs to keep all of Woodstock happy, his hallucinations were amazingly detailed and coherent.

The ground shook under us and it was my turn to almost shit myself. I had seen enough Jurassic Park to know what happens next.

"Guys!" I shouted before Astrid had any chance to dull out her godly judgment on those assholes.

For the first time, Astrid and the goons looked around and noticed the change.

"What the—" the idiot said.

"You really stepped in it this time, didn't you?" this time it was my turn to open my big mouth, "Franklin's ability is manipulating reality and you dumb asses used hallucinogens rather than forking over the extra cash for real tranquilizers."

"What's that supposed to mean?" one of the goons in the crowd asked.

"It means," I said as if I were talking to a very small child whom I knew wouldn't understand any way, "that if he sees pink elephants there will BE pink elephants."

"And Franklin is known for his imaginative prowess." Astrid added.

"Alright guys, this is what we've trained for." It's kind of funny. I was the one nothing to do with playing the hero and yet the first time things start to get sticky, I'm the one that takes charge. Maybe they had been right all along.

"No! I'm in charge and…and…" the goon from earlier (who I could only assume was the second in command of this merry band of idiots) said shaking his gun at us.

"James?" I didn't have to say anything else.

"Avengers assemble!" He activated the holographic shield on his gauntlet and threw it, knocking the guns out of six of the idiots before catching it as it returned to him.

I didn't have time to watch the stunned expressions on the crowd's faces. "Sev, get up here and see what you can do about Frankie. You're a hell a lot better at first aid than I am."

He gave a single nod and complied—surprisingly without as much as a word of complaint.

"Francois, Pym, Azari, Torunn, you guys are on defense. Keep the civilians safe." I didn't really have to tell them. Francois already had the collapsible bow he kept in his boot drawn and ready to strike. Torunn's two ton sword was drawn and ready and her armor had appeared from wherever she kept it when she was in civilian mode. Azari was crouched ready to strike, his body would have been cackling with electricity if it hadn't been for the crowd.

"You might have to go big for this one Pym." I said. Everyone knew Pym preferred the mobility of his insect form (and let's not forget the whole flying thing) but in his case bigger was stronger and knowing Franklin's imagination, we would need that strength.

"Astrid, you're in charge of making sure no one tries to go off on their own. There's too many to protect if they aren't in one place."

"Oh no. I'm not playing hero. What do I care if those foolish mortals get themselves killed?"

"Now!" I roared, my throat raw from the force of the shout, "We don't have time for this. Just do it!"

She blinked in shock. I had never talked to her like that before but the adrenalin was kicking in with a vengeance. Besides, if an innocent got killed while Franklin's powers were out of control—his fault or not—not only would he never forgive himself but it could have vast and far reaching implications for his family. Things between the mutant and human communities were tense enough as is. The last thing anyone needed was someone lighting a fuse in the armory.

Had it been anyone else bossing her around like that, she would have killed them but she just gave me an impressed little smile and nodded.

"If I would have known you could be this aggressive when things get fun, I would have let you be on top more often." She teased. I couldn't help but blush and she laughed.

Toby gave a low whistle and I wanted to smack him. There was nothing going on between Astrid and I. No dating, no friends with benefits shit, no sex. He knew that. And I knew it would never happen. I mean I loved Astrid as my best friend but I knew what kind of person she was: I was smart enough not to put myself through that level of macosism.

The ground shook again and again with a rhythmic pitter pater that could only mean that something big was coming towards us fast.

"When he wakes up we might want to tell him to lay off the movies." Toby muttered and I don't think anyone could find a reason to disagree.

An army of machine gun carrying apes was charging at us and shouting in Russian with a vigor that was frightening…but not quite as frightening as the giant cowboy riding a T-rex that was leading the charge. I kid you not.

"Sev, where are you on fixing Frankie?" I shouted over the screams of the crowd.

"There's nothing I can do. I don't know enough about the substance to try and use magic. If I try there's a good chance I would just make it worse!"

"Worse than this?" I said motioning incredulously to the army of aps.

"Yes Howard, worse than this."

"Than what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do is wait until he works the drugs out naturally."

I sighed. If Sev said there was nothing he could do, than there was nothing he could do and getting mad at him for it wouldn't help anyone.

"Alright, then help Astrid keep everyone safe." I hated to do it. Astrid and Sev had the most versatile power set and were exceptionally strong at what they did. If I put them on the offensive than it would go a long way towards beating the apes but their versatility was exactly the reason I needed them on defense: they were the only ones who could.

As Astrid and Sev worked there magic, the rest of us lined up between the army and the civilians.

I knew that the odds were against us. Six kids with a thousand innocents to protect against an army were not good odds—even for Avengers. But I put those thoughts away. The first rule of battle is that if you believe you can't win than you can't win. Besides, if the x-men can win the battle of Alcatraz with similar odds, than we can do it to.

"Any one got an idea on how to take care of the guns?" I shouted so that maybe Astrid and Sev could hear too. I knew they were busy, but maybe just maybe they could manage a little multitasking.

"I got it." Azari said and pushed a little button on his belt. I just raised my eyebrow at him. "Wakanda's had the technology to disable firearms for almost a century."

"And you didn't do anything when those goons wanted to shoot us earlier?" James asked.

"I did. They just never tried to fire after I activated it."

"We need to go after the dinosaur first. If we can get it to fall, it might just take some of those apes with it." James said.

As they readied for battle so didn't I. Just because I never wanted to be a part of this world doesn't mean I'm stupid. I always kept a few gadgets handy just in case—they weren't suit level, but they were more than nothing.

I pulled two small metal disks out of pocket. To anyone watching it would look like I was pressing a quarter to the inside of my wrist, but these little babies held a lot more of a punch than that. They gave a distinct wine before thin metal vines began climbing up my hand. Within two seconds my hands looked like they were encased in a metal exoskeleton.

I formed my thumb and forefinger into a gun and started shooting the apes.

"Now I'm mad. Didn't your mom ever teach you to share your toys?" a voice said from behind me.

"Damn it Toby! Get back with the others. I can't be worrying about you and fight these creatures at the same time."

"I can't just sit around doing nothing." Maybe I really had been hanging out with Astrid too much, because a part of me could swear that he was manipulating me into lending him some of my tech. I was probably just seeing thing; Toby wasn't that conniving. And honestly at the moment It didn't matter if he was. All the mattered was if I was going to hand over the good stuff.

"Be carefully with these and try not to miss—they only have so many shots." I said, handing him the last two of my laser shooters.

I knew that if he got himself killed doing this, than I would never forgive myself but at the same time we needed all the help we could get. If we didn't survive this than trying to protect him would be a moot point anyway.

"He's not the only one who'll be helping." Natalie said from behind him.

"I don't have any more gradates to share." I was getting more than a little snippy with her. My friends were out there fighting an army to keep them safe and they were more concerned with playing hero. I didn't have time for this.

"I'm the leader of a Mutant support group. Do you really think I could have gotten that far up the ladder without abilities of my own?" She asked staring over my shoulder at the way James and Azari were handling there opponents.

Without so much as a warning, she pounced into the fray and began beating up on a fair number of apes. I didn't even bother wondering just what her power was before I started firing into the endless crowd of primates.

"Look out, beautiful!" Francis hollered up to a flying Torunn. He fired a laser arrow into the each of the T-rex's kneecaps (or the dino equivalent). the arrows glowed for a second making the reptile look a bit like a underused voodoo doll before they exploded and sent the creature toppling, bleeding out painfully fast.

Once the cowboy managed to push the corps of his ride off of him, he charged at Francis in a rage. But giant Pym got there first. He tackled the cowboy and they both hit the ground with a resounding thud as they crushed several apes in the process.

While Pym took care of the big guy, it was up to the rest of us to take care of the primate posy. Azari was sending electricity in all directions as he leapt with catlike grace between his pray. James was really showing his heritage in battle and Torunn was enjoying her first chance to prove herself in battle. Hell, even Natalie was having fun imitating Azari's moves perfectly (I was really going to have to ask her about that latter). But no matter how many we took out, more kept appearing. They were worse than Hydra.

My shots had long ago run out, so I had to resort to just using my fist.

Don't get me wrong, I had decided well before my teenage years that I wasn't going to let myself get beaten up again without a fight, so I was far from a light weight. But come on, these were talking apes. I think it's fair to say I was a little out of my weight class. So I guess it comes as no surprise that I got my ass handed to me bad.

When the ape hit me in the chest, I was lucky he didn't shatter my sternum. Instead, he managed to send me flying backward. If there is one thing I know that has nothing to do with Astrid or mechanics, it's how to take a punch; I twisted so that maybe I could land without snapping my spine like a twig, but I knew that I was going fast enough to still do some serious damage when I landed.

A flash of red and blue flew past me and I found myself spinning like a dradle as I landed. James had thrown his shield to catch me so when I did land instead of bouncing like a ragdoll, I skidded until I was right by Franklin.

"Thanks James," I said trying desperately not to hurl my lunch like I had just went ten rounds on the cyclone on Connie Island. The shield disappeared, returning to its master, and I was left sitting on the stage too dizzy to even attempt to rejoin the fight just yet.

Pym gave the cowboy a final punch, knocking him out cold while Torunn went in for the kill. Several people in the crowd screamed as they were sprayed with massive jets of blood.

But despite both of the apes heavy hitters being down for the count, they still had the upper hand. There were just too many. I really wasn't sure if we were going to make it till Franklin could control himself.

"You know man, you really need to wake up. Or at least send us some help or something." I hadn't expected him to answer but he did.

All around us skeletal hands emerged from the ground and started to climb out into the daylight.

"Are those—?" Toby asked from beside me. by this point I was past shock. Nothing more could surprise me here.

"Yep."

"Cool."

I looked at him harshly. It was neither the time nor the place for him to indulge his fanboyness.

"What?" he asked clearly not getting it, "it's not you get to see pirate-ninja-zombies every day!"

Now it was his turn to look at me oddly. "Do you?"

"What I want to know is if they are on our side or theirs." I muttered, ignoring his question.

"Considering their currently not out to nom on our brains, I think it's safe to say they are on our side." He said just as the PNZ's reached the line of apes and began to eat the primates alive. "Yep, our side."

There was a moment of silence as we watched in morbid fascination.

"Do you know what this means?" Toby asked with barely concealed excitement that worried me. I didn't answer, but I knew he was going to tell me anyways.

"It means I can get a t-shirt that says 'I fought pirate-ninja-zombies and won' and it would be totally legit!" I honestly wanted to face palm. I think his priorities were a little skewed.

Sev opened his mouth to correct him but Natalie beat him to it.

"If you wanted it to be legit then it would have to say 'I fought _with _pirate-ninja-zombies and won.' Without the 'with' it means you fought against the PNZ's but with the with it means you fought alongside them but would imply them being your enemies."

Sev raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? I read. I know what words mean." She said looking at Sev.

"You are weird. All of you." I muttered pulling my eyes back to the fight.

"Avengers pull back!" James roared and they all returned to the stage. We were all a little worse for wear in some way or the other. Neither James nor Torunn had any physical damage but they did look a little tired. Azari and Natalie were going to be black and blue in the morning and Francis was nursing a shiner, a busted lip, a dislocated shoulder and the several probable broken ribs.

"I was wondering Natalie," I said, "what's your ability?"

"Muscle memory. I just have to see something done and I can do it."

"You were impressive out there."

"Forget her," Toby said, "what about you?"

"What?" I said confused and slightly incredulous.

"You were born for this. I mean the moment the shit really hit the fan you were all over it. Hell, you even got away with bossing Astrid around!"

I could practically taste the vindication roiling off Astrid in waves but I wasn't going to let her win. Maybe they were right and all this was inevitable but I wasn't going to say it out loud.

Astrid gave a loud laugh. Damn her and her mindreading.

Sev started patching the kids up just as the light around us flickered and warped.

"What happened?" Franklin asked sitting up with a groan.

"Cliff notes? You got drugged and lost control of your powers so now fix it." I said. Maybe I shouldn't have been so short with him, but the mosquitoes in this jungle were starting to be a real pain.

He looked around, taking in his unwitting handy work and gave a nervous little chuckle.

"No one was hurt were they?" he asked as the room returned to its significantly less exciting state.

"Nothing Sev couldn't fix. But really man you need to lay off the movies. All of them." I said, helping him lean against the wall.

"Sorry." he muttered probably through a slamming headache.

"I mean really! What was with those Russian apes? Did your uncles make you watch Bond movies after planet of the apes or something?" I continued as if I hadn't heard him.

"What were they saying?" He asked me.

"They were either asking for sexual favors or—"

"Death to America." James said and I whipped my head around to face him.

"What?"

"That's what they were shouting. Your Russian sucks." He explained to Franklin and I. I was going to say something sarcastic back to him when the door to the auditorium burst open.

"We got word that something was happening here." Steve said all decked out in his Cap gear. My dad, most of the other Avengers, and all of the Fantastic Four were right behind him. I guess when a situation has all of their kids involved it kind of takes top priority.

"Dude you're about ten minutes late for that party."

* * *

><p>Sorry for posting this unbated but it has been eating at my soul all week. I had the first eight hundred words sitting on my desk top for about a month but the rest of it came in a week. You can think three monsters and a about a hundred comics for that. If anyone would like to volunteer to be a beta I would love you forever. I have emailed ac couple people but haven't heard anything back and it's been over a month. Oh well.<p>

Another thing I'm apologizing for is the after party excuse. Sorry if the thing about getting drunk seems a little far-fetched. I needed a way to get Steve and Nat together without them actually being together. After all, Cap and Nat isn't near as bad ass of a cuple as well… Cap and Nat (I actually have a prize for anyone who knows what the hell I'm talking about).

After this fic there is one more one shot planed and a handful of ficlets. Then we get to the big multi-chaptered monster. The chapters of that are going to be significantly shorter than the one shots, but then I can update more so I figured you wouldn't mind.

Please review guys. I really want to know how this one turned out.


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